Like OSHA, NIOSH celebrates its 40 birthday this year. What has NIOSH accomplished, and how has it helped improve safety? We asked its director John Howard.
The mission of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is “to generate new knowledge in the field of occupational safety and health and to transfer that knowledge into practice for the betterment of workers.”
To accomplish its mission, NIOSH:
- Conducts scientific research
- Develops guidance and recommendations
- Disseminates information
- Responds to requests for workplace health hazard evaluations
Though its mission is science, NIOSH today is a hands-on organization with information and products that directly benefit employers and employees. The real-world focus is due in large measure to the efforts of Dr. John Howard, who directed the institute from 2002 to 2008, then again since 2009.
“I came from Cal/OSHA, an agency that was primarily regulatory and did some science, Howard said in a recent interview posted on Safety.BLR.com. “I came to NIOSH, a science-based agency that had traditionally maintained a firewall between pure science and feasibility of implementation.”
A top priority was to shore up the practical end of the science.
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r2p
Overtime, Howard helped NIOSH codify a new strategy, known as “Research to Practice,” or “r2p.” The idea is to translate knowledge and technologies into prevention strategies and products that can be adopted in workplaces.
A few examples of r2p in action help illustrate the approach:
- NIOSH developed an MBA course, Business Value of Safety and Health, in collaboration with Xavier University’s Williams College of Business in Cincinnati. It examines how business can use OSH improvements and initiatives for long-term planning and other decision-making processes.
- When MSHA discovered that roof bolting machine operators were overexposed to noise, NIOSH worked with mining partners to develop a collapsible steel drill enclosure to encapsulate the equipment, thus reducing the noise.
- NIOSH created a hand wipe technology that easily detects the presence of lead on skin and hard surfaces in industries where lead is produced or used. The patented wipe is available under the brand name Full Disclosure®.
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At 40, NIOSH has not outgrown its original purpose, said Howard, but it has grown into an expanded role in areas including injury and illness prevention. As a result, the institute has become engaged in worker health and wellness in recent years.
“We’re integrating traditional occupational safety and health protection strategies with the health promotion side and the individual healthcare issues facing our country,” Howard explained.
He adds that regardless of the incident that takes a worker out of action—a heart attack, a ladder fall at home, or a job-related injury—the worker’s family loses, the employer loses, and the nation’s economy loses.
Tomorrow, we’ll update you on what NIOSH is doing about our aging workforce.